Soap Lake boys back from Spokane
SPOKANE - The Eagles accomplished their goal of making it to the 1B Boys State Basketball Tournament in Spokane over the weekend.
But Soap Lake was forced to take an earlier than expected exist from postseason play as the team lost its first two games and did not place in the competition.
"We had a great season and made it to the top eight," coach Rick Winters said. "Unfortunately, we ran up against two hot teams who shot the ball well and we didn't, and that was the difference in the games."
LWK 56
Soap Lake 40
The Eagles Jason Korneychuk scored 24 points and pulled down 17 rebounds in a first round match up with LaCrosse-Washtucna-Kahlotus (LWK) Thursday evening.
But his supporting cast was none existent as only two other Soap Lake players scored in a lopsided 56-40 loss to the Tigercats.
The contest got off to slow start as Soap Lake and LWK shooters had trouble finding their mark. Sloppy ball handling and turnovers by the Eagles took their toll too, allowing the Tigercats to go up 11-8 after the first eight minutes of play.
LWK opened the second quarter of action with a 9-2 run to increase it lead to 20-10 with 3 minutes left in the half. But the Eagles answered back with a 9-1 run of their own to close the gap to 21-19 at the break. Soap Lake's Korneychuk had 15 of the Eagles first half points.
Trey's rained down from both teams in the third quarter of action as Soap Lake and LWK jockeyed to a 36-26 score in favor of the Tigercats.
A basket and a free throw by Korneychuk made it 36-28 with 1:41 left in the quarter. Alec Fleming's second bucket from behind the arc made it 39-28 and gave LWK its biggest lead of the game as the quarter came to an end.
The Tigercats scored the first 8 points of the final quarter to go up 44-28. Dustin Foster stopped the streak of 10 consecutive points by LWK with a 3-point bucket from dead in the corner to give the Eagles hope, 44-31 with 5 minutes left in the game.
Unwilling to yield, the Tigercats went on a 12-9 run to close it out and pick up the win. Foster and Ben Winters added 8 points each for Soap Lake.
The Eagles shot a paltry 26 percent from the field, 8 percent from the 3-point line, 47 percent from the charity stripe, and had zero points off the bench.
The loss dropped Soap Lake into the consolation bracket to face the Chitwhins from Taholah High School Friday.
Taholah 72
Soap Lake 55
With their hopes of a championship dashed, the Eagles still had a chance to finish third if they could come out unscathed in the consolation bracket. But fate was not on Soap Lake's side as the team was turned back by the Chitwhins.
The Eagles did not go down without a fight however as the team batted to a 14-14 tie at the end of the first quarter of play. Soap Lake took its first lead of the game 19-17 on a Joe Cutshall trey, but the Chitwhins answered back with 14-5 run to go up 31-24 at intermission. The Eagles were more balanced scoring-wise in this game than against the Tigercats the night before as Korneychuk knocked down 11 first half points, and Nic Kapalo and Winters added 6 each.
The third quarter of action saw Taholah take its biggest lead of the game, 54-35. Soap Lake, with the balance of its season at hand, fought back with a 9-7 run, but still trailed 61-44 with 3:38 left on the game clock.
The Eagles got within 11 points, 63-52 with a little more than 2 minutes to go, but that was as close as they would get, and dropped the game by 17. The contest could've been much closer, but Soap Lake had trouble converting free throw opportunities, making just 4-of-14 for the game.
Winters scored 11 second half points to lead the Eagles with 17. Korneychuk added 16, Cutshall and Kapalo had 9 each, and Dustin Foster and Dima Kalachik finished with 2 points each.
"There were no patsies in the tournament," Winters said. "We didn't have as much experience going in as most of the other teams as none of our kids had been to the playoff's (basketball) in their high school careers so this was a huge learning curve for them. We only have one player graduating (Jason Korneychuk) so our program is in good shape. Now that the guys have had a taste of the state tournament, it should make them hungry to get back next year. If we work hard and put in the time in the off-season, I think we have a good chance of returning."